Reviews

Beautiful and a breath of fresh air

Everyone of course expected something raunchy or over the top. I really love how they truly put in the effort to show detail to the BDSM community as well. I did not read the manhwa but that doesn't matter because this movie even on its own was really fun to watch. I hope that many other people give this movie a chance and go in with an open mind, not one that expects it to be just like the manhwa. I knew from the beginning kdramas / movies rarely stick to doing things as they really are in webtoons , manhwas, etc. Recommending this to anyone that would love to watch.

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Hours of Waiting for a 2 Hours disappointment.

This Review is going to be long, but please be patient and read it before watching.

This movie was one long awaited movie for me and i have been waiting since the end of December for its release, since the original manhwa is badass in jokes, romance, friendship and maturity, but i was still doubtful over its quality since Netflix produces it, and my doubts were true, it was indeed crap and a disappointment to the Manhwa.

Basically they picked out the main leads story from the manhwa, and created a SM documentary out of it. And since i am a guy who hates documentaries, i had to skip through most of the movie to finish it.

Now this is my comparison of movie with its hundred times better manhwa. The manhwa had many great things which was lacking in the movie.
1. The manhwa was light hearted, no heavy SM, and each and every chapter was funny. No drama, no seriousness, but entirely mature was the best thing. But when it came to this Netflix movie, it was flipped over and the funny tone was switched off after first few minutes. Maturity was there, but the movie lost the tone of the manhwa, and it was frustrating.
2. Characters - Sure to crumple into that two hour slot, Netflix had to cut out many parts, but looks like Netflix had omitted the entire manhwa after adapting first few chapters and created their own story, and as Netflix goes, it was dark and bad. In the manhwa, there were great characters like Male Lead's friend, and a woman who works in the bar that male lead owns, the SM community that male lead is part of, second male lead and several others were omitted for the movie. If Netflix adapts a manhwa, it should do it properly, not like this, eating half a piece of cake and dumping the rest. Rather than all these good characters, they added few boring characters, and i couldn't even bother knowing it. If the movie slot was too small, they could have gone for a drama and did it good, but half assing would always be bad.
3. Basically this movie had swapped out comedy and bromance for darker concept. It's not like i discriminate dark SM, and to be honest i liked NANA TO KAORU, but here darker SM is not necessary, and comedy is only thing required. The swapping of genre made it dull and uninteresting. The relationships was dark and crap and the entire plot was dark.
4. The male Lead's character. This is another thing Netflix crapped it. Male lead in the manhwa is 100 times better than movie. In manhwa, male lead was strong willed, funny and always had a mature approach to relationships. But in the movie they followed the regular kdrama male lead with trauma concept. Why, why the hell should you do that??? Why should you swap good characterisation to cliche crap character.

Overall, this movie is a total disappointment. I am not a fan of those dark crap things Netflix makes, and looks like they won't come out of it soon. Either they make childish dramas similar to BOYS OVER FLOWERS, or very dark dramas like DARK DESIRE. They should learn to draw a middle line and make dramas in that line, where it will be more realistic to watch. For MDL users, i would recommend you read the manhwa rather than the movie. The movie is totally bad that i can't recommend anyone. Looks like WEBTOON picked this manhwa, but still if you want to read ahead, 121 chapters are already out.

Re-watch value - I missed this one. Watching it one time itself was a headache for me, so i don't think i will watch it again. This movie taught me that I should never believe Netflix with its adaptations.

And overall rating of 5.5 is generous from me, and i would have given it 5, but one extra for my manhwa.😔😔😔

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Love or Leashes?

i am writing this opinion as a webtoon reader of the original... and i honestly would have preferred if this was readapted into a mini-series instead of a movie.. and here's why i felt so..

STORY
I may be biased since I am comparing it to the webtoon, but honestly if this was a drama, there would have been more time to understand each character's backstory,...

Jiwoo: I really love her character in the webtoon, and I think the adaption here is 80% synchronized. But the Jiwoo in the webtoon is more cold-headed, but there were some parts (e.g her showing her anger, the scene of her cursing) that made me felt disjoined from the character portrated in the webtoon. Also, I honestly would have preferred if there was some development regarding Jiwoo BDSM's tendencies. In the film, her finding out Jihoo's fetish, and coming to accept it all came too fast... and the confession scene felt un-Jiwoo for me. In the webtoon, the confession was more like after she sorted out her boundaries etc. Here was more like an order, and Jihoo just adamantly rejected ..
Jihoo: I actually wanted to see some flashback scenes of why he became a male-sub. It was only briefly explained through voiceover dialogue but I felt that it was an important one. There were quite a build up and explanation in the webtoon. I also wished there was more conflicts of Jihoo with himself? In webtoon, there was the vandalism plot (Hana stalker ex-bf) and Ivan (i think they made him into Lee Han here) which had him in stress over his preferences. There was also Jihoo's ex-bf + blind date in the webtoon that were development scenes for Jihoo to question the boundaries between wanting Jiwoo as his master, girlfriend or both. I think since this is a movie, there wasn't time to build on this, so everything felt rush. But of course, there may be a different perspective for watchers whom had not read the webtoon.
-In the webtoon i really liked Hanna & the cafe owner whom was Jihoo's best friend! Their interaction was so cute!! but i think they integrated Hanna's character into Lee El's character, so :( and they removed Jihoo's best friend, whom i actually really like in the webtoon (HE IS SUPER TSUNDERE)
-Also, the confrontation scene between Jihoo's ex and Jiwoo was actually more interesting in the webtoon.. i can't believe they only just brushed by each other in the film :(
-Also Ivan, was one pivotal character i feel in the webtoon because he actually likes Jiwoo (which makes Jihoo nervous) but then also finds out his secret fetish.. but there wasn't much utilization of his character here other than ousting the two's BDSM voice recording...

Acting
I have nothing to pick on about the acting! For Seohyun i am really seeing her in a new light?? Because let's be frank, i think even some SONES would not have expected her to choose such a production!!! But then she nailed it?? it was completely natural for me :D For Junhyoung, i have no comparisons since its the first time i am watching him act, but i would say he really gave me that puppy vibe HAHHA which i think was what the director was going for :)

Overall, as a fan of the webtoon, i will obviously pick the webtoon over the film. But one good thing of this film is, i really liked how they handled the part on gender discrimination at workplace because this is what actually happens irl??? this also justifies why people like Jihoo wants to hide their preferences. I also preferred the film's ending because i did see sides of Jihoo as a man, and not as a sub to Jiwoo after they established their dating + sub & dom r/s in the film but i didnt see much of it in the webtoon... the webtoon was almost likely an open ending. I would say, it's a good watch still. I am curious of opinions of non-readers to be honest since I think my review was very biased since i kept comparing to the webtoon :|

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Sweet, Sexy, Submissive, Consensual ... slightly complicated too

This movie has a little bit of everything, fun informative beautifully shot and will have you thinking a lot of thoughts at once while still managing to make your heart flutter thinking oooh they are so sweet,.. and awch that must hurt but ohhh so sweet.

Knowing very little about the subject I found myself intrigued by both the plot and the informative scenes here and there making this not only fun and pretty for the eye but also a source of learning.

I love how this shows deals with the extremely important issue consent as well as shows the difference between consensual acts of dominance as well as non-consensual ones with the main focus being on consent, acceptance and growing together.

The characters in this movie are complex, lovable (most), there are PLENTY of pets (human and non human), lots of humor and not a single annoying character in sight. So what do I say a rom-com done right, that I may just re-watch with my husband for some inspiration, or just for fun ;)


I would say this is probably the funnest rom-com movie I have seen so far, so I strongly recommend people to watch it.

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Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadochism and Masochism

Love and Leashes are definitely entertaining! It's fun to watch. Crazy good chemistry between Seohyun and Lee Jun-Young. The concept of BDSM and love was detailed. Even though BDSM was well explained and how it feels like to have a fetish and be accepted was well detailed, there was something lacking! There could have been more depth to it. Moreover, there are many erotic scenes, that were beautifully layered, especially the editing of this movie is really good. Another thing is that Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadochism and Masochism, all these concepts of BDSM were so interesting. The way it was shown, not just scenes but the meaning behind it and stuff.

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You will fall in love !!

This movie looked all bubbly in the trailer but it's more than that, it blew me out of the water, the soundtrack was everything. one thing I for sure loved is that you didn't really know from whose perspective this was being told, yes it started with kid ino, however, it was never set the lines of whos it was blurred. IT'S BEAUTIFUL!! him using a mirror for her "color", him learning how to be who he is where he is, him loving her.

I LOVE the ending it feels like it's saying he doesn't see all the colors, just the one in front of him and I gotta adore the way they let him stay colorblind it was very realistic and just perfect.

just one question ..... WHY DID HE SEE RED ?!

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I crush on your eyes ♡

Loved the drama and the movie just made the experience better. I loved how they transitioned between what would've been a break between episodes. Hyunjun and Yoo Jun still gave me all the butterflies and kept me smiling from ear to ear. The friends of course had me smiling, would've been nice to see them a little more with extra scenes. I didn't give it a perfect 10 because like the drama, we don't have info on what happened with Yeon Woo's mom and it would've been great for them to also add extra scenes for it but I understand with Hyunjun not being apart of season 2 and all. The music was of course beautiful, I always have the soundtrack on repeat. These boys will always hold a special place in this story for me, I'll never get bored of it. I love it so much that I lowkey wish to live in such a world minus the dangerous part of it of course haha. Anyways, if you prefer not to have the break between the episodes and want it to all flow together nicely, I recommend watching the movie version over the drama version.

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‘ Dear Ex’; A Surprisingly Heartwarming Film…

Directed and cowritten by Mag Hsu and Chih-Yen Hsu as well as screenwriter Lu Shih Yuan, ‘ Dear Ex’ is a movie which will likely not appeal to everyone with its soap-opera style cliches and setups.

However despite some notable flaws and inconsistencies which could be found in ‘ Dear Ex’, the prominent messaging placed upon real-life issues such as homophobia , love, intolerance, teen-angst and familial relationships, arguably presented a somewhat niche plot line with an air of gritty complexity and heartfelt moments along the way.

After his father Zhengyuan (Spark Chen) dies of cancer, it is revealed that the beneficiary of the will is not Cheng-xi ( Joseph Huang) but Jay (Roy Chu), his father’s gay lover. Embarrassed and angered, Cheng-xi’s mother Liu Sanlian (Ying-Xuan Hseih), desperately tries to reclaim her late husband’s money, in order to afford her son’s tuition and the family’s cost of living — a process that alternately entails coercion and attempted blackmail.

Yet Cheng-xi, fed up of his mother’s manipulation , opts to live with free-spirited Jay instead. As Cheng-Xi and Jay become surprisingly close during their cohabitation, Cheng- Xi soon begins to question his loyalties towards his mother and his previous beliefs .

Directors Chih-Yen Hsu and Mag Hsu present ‘ Dear Ex’ with a melodrama edge. Nevertheless during quintessential moments, the directors aren’t afraid to place emphasis upon the narrative’s complex edges; the deeply fraught family history, Sanlian’s feelings of fury and rage by her husband’s decisions and affair, as well as the tragic decline of Zhengyuan’s health and spirit. In particular Sanlian’s change from the niche archetype of the overbearing mother and wife during her initial introduction, allowed opportunities for the directors in order to flesh-out her character as the storyline progressed.

Despite thematic themes hinting that ‘ Dear Ex’ should be a coming of age movie for Cheng-Xi, Chih-Yen Hsu and Mag Hsu placed greater emphasis upon tragic and ill-fated romances and immense pathos for its array of onscreen characters with equal sympathy. However despite Taiwan’s liberal stance upon same-sex marriage and LGBT rights, the movie still highlighted the presiding underbelly of prejudice within Taiwanese culture and society- homophobia and gay slurs often arising during key moments in order to expose this. In addition to this, ‘ Dear Ex’ also allowed some golden-opportunities for character development. One of the most intriguing and climatic in the movie’s narrative surrounding the rocky relationship between Jay and Sanlian; merging from contempt, to animosity before developing into mutual sympathy.

However whilst the non-linear narrative gave a smoothly edited storyline, ‘ Dear Ex’ could often lean into greater problems of incoherent plot holes. Despite some desperate attempts in order to wrap up certain key plot points, viewers were often left in the dark towards reasons and drive within the narrative. ( In particular the decision for Jay to become the main beneficiary, excluding Cheng-Xi entirely.)

The acting performances of the series are solid. Admittedly there were certain line deliverances which could feel somewhat enforced or lacking tact, the main cast were decent enough onscreen. Child actor Joseph Huang and actor Roy Chiu were particularly dynamic onscreen ; offering surprisingly emotional yet dynamic performances throughout the movie.

The pacing of the movie is slow in parts. Naturally it is arguable that certain scenes had to be slowed down in order to focus and build upon characters. On the other hand whilst the storyline did offer some expedited storyline moments, the inconsistent balance could sometimes limit opportunities in order to patch up weaker moments of dialogue, plot holes and character writing also.

Aside from integrating an array of flashbacks into the narrative, it is undeniable that under the directing reigns of Chih-Yen Hsu and Mag Hsu, ‘ Dear Ex’ is visually aesthetic . The emphasis upon vivid palette schemes are brought to life through emerald, scarlet and ruby red tones- helping to bring to life the emotional scope of the movie’s characters. In particular the usage of childish doodles surrounding Cheng Xi, amateurishly superimposed in parts, undeniably helped to captivate the medium for Cheng Xi’s transition into adulthood alongside his ideologies throughout the course of the film. The OST was notably subtle throughout its usage in the background of scenes; a little insipid in parts, but synchronic nonetheless.

Overall ‘ Dear Ex’ is admittedly a niche setup with seemingly archetypical characters and relationships. On the other hand whilst the movie could often fall into the pitfall of barely fleshed-out narrative points, Chih-Yen Hsu and Mag Hsu’s ‘ Dear Ex’ was a surprisingly exposure into the mindsets of its intriguing array of characters, as well as a societal critique into the clashing traditions of new and old in Taiwan. ‘ Dear Ex’ is undeniably flawed in parts, but is surprisingly heartfelt at times also.

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Slow Build But Great Movie

The storyline has been done before, but I like how it was executed here and that the music didn't overpower the acting/verbal moments. There was drama, action, emotional, cute and raw moments. The ML did really well considering half the time he wasn't allowed to say anything. FL was sweet and yet empowering. They had enough chemistry to make it believable. Incorporating the dog was smart, however not correctly executed towards the end*(at the end of this review I will explain, however it is a spoiler alert). Great MMA/fight scenes, including the training.

Due some parts not really being done well and really slow build of the story, that is why it's not a 10/10 for me. Definitely a good watch, that has scenes that will tug at your heart. 100% Rewatchable.

SPOILER ALERT
*The dog obviously knew him by scent and found the ML quickly. So why, (when she was trying to find Rui again on the street), didn't she take the dog,? It would have dragged her straight to him. Also in the pottery shop, the dog should've been trying to pull her back out the door, while barking.

Also FL sculpted his face from what her hands remembered, so she should've recognized him from that alone at the hospital. Her feeling his back muscles and thinking she knew him, not likely. Feeling his scar, the one she thought was a burn, that would've made more sense. Or even his scent, because she knew it from before due to her heightened other senses, that would be believable.

The part about the sea glass and it's connection to him, the ocean and her, was nice. Same with the song and music box.

All in all it was a great movie and I did enjoy it.

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Compelling genre mix, albeit not without flaws

This movie starts out as your typical high school bullying story, dealing with themes like isolation, destiny and heroism. Don't let that fool you, though. Throughout the whole movie you can feel something is wrong, and once you've reached the half point the story turns into a pretty dark thriller.

I've so much I loved about this, but also a few things that fell flat for me. The first half, although quite predictable, was pretty enjoyable. Mostly because the characters and dialogues were interesting. I thought some of the metaphors they used were quite clever, and the foreshadowing was done well. While watching, you can feel the tension building up.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of this movie a lot. They made some good music choices that enhanced the feeling of uneasiness. The genre mix is definitely one of the strongest points of this movie, and I was ready to give this a higher score. Sadly, the last 30 minutes or so were not that believable to me. Although I enjoyed the magical realism elements, I think they took it a bit too far. It felt like they were trying too hard and it came off rather cheesy than inspiring.

That being said, it was still a great watch. It's certainly not your typical coming-of-age story. It's flawed and I wish they would have made a few different directional choices, but it was an engaging story nonetheless.

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Entertaining road trip musical with somewhat peculiar humor

This was nowhere near as fun as it could have been. Sadly, the humor was my biggest issue with this movie. I just don't get why it's supposed to be funny when a chubby character's only personality traits are being obsessed with food, on top of always acting selfish. How am I supposed to feel for them when they behave like this for the sake of humor? And why are chubby characters often written like that? It's something we've seen in a lot of Hollywood movies as well, and I think this kind of humor is incredibly uninventive.

While I enjoyed the overall themes of accepting yourself for who you are, chasing your dreams and overcoming your fears, the characters were pretty flat. The friendships just didn't have that much of an impact on me, since some characters were not interesting enough and lacked depth.

What I did love about this were the musical parts. Well choreographed and combined with catchy music, they were a joy to watch. Ayaka Miyoshi as Shizuka Suzuki was absolutely delightful. Her performance was excellent and carried the movie for me. You could see her passion and energy. I really enjoyed the humor of the musical parts as well, and I wish they would have focused on that a bit more.

Although nothing special, the story was still entertaining. The strongest points being the wonderful musical performances and Ayaka Miyoshi as a fantastic lead.

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Amazing

Damn! Koreans know how to make a good movie of any genre, where I can't watch Indian or Western romantic movies (most of them are cringy) I loved this movie. It is heart-warming!
Very beautiful directed and actors did a great job along with supporting casts. And most importantly their chemistry! I can’t say enough about these two leads.... their chemistry was amazing!
I hate that some Indians blatantly copies concepts from K dramas n movies (including this one-do lafzon ki kahani) without giving credit.
Amazing Movie, 10/10
Anybody wondering about watching it? I'd recommend 100%

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Little action and bad comedy

I've been a fan of Vincent Zhao for some time and supported his work even through the rubbish with the hopes that one day he will do something that’s worthy. Sadly Invisible Tattoo is not that project. I've sat through some duds such as God Of War and Wudang in which I enjoyed a bit. Then there were Unity of Heroes, Warriors of the Nation and Counterattack which seems like master pieces compared to this. Don’t be fooled by the trailers which presented itself as an action film there’s barely any notable action here.

Chang returning to a broken marriage, his wife's death and his relationship with his daughter could have been the crux of the story but it is skimmed over. Lan hates Chang but they bond so quickly it makes everything that played before pointless. It is mentioned that Chang is a member of the Kylin Tattoo School it means nothing to the overall story, at times there were hints that the tattoo aspect had some greater meaning but in the end it was all needless and it was just one an absurd excuse for our villain to visit our protagonist. Then we have his close friends, one a duel pistol wielding sharpshooter named Ying Yang and another is a fat friend named Lan Lung. Both contribute nothing to the overall story its so forced into the film. One scene sees Chang defusing a problem for Lan Lung in a gambling den but Chang quickly resolves the matter with the gamblers and making friends with them and then they are shot by Ying Yang, it made the whole scene seem pointless and it felt like it was to establish this conflict between Chang and Ying Yang but it never amounts to anything.

Worse of all is the inclusion of a foreign circus performer named Xi Xianghong. The film maker spends a good amount of time establishing her and making her a love interest to Chang but then for her to disappear from the story, then showing up pointlessly once again at the end. Then we have the much publicised inclusion of actor and parkour expert David Belle who has no purpose, he appears midway through with nothing to do just to disappear again and then reappearing during the final act. He does like one or two parkour moves and that's it. Playing the daughter is Chinese child actress Wang Shengdi but the grown up version is played by Eurasian actress Shanti Lu which is jarring and considering how little they resemble each other. Zhao has no chemistry with his daughter in this film and its awkward seeing them bond.

The film is so schizophrenic, as mentioned there are so many random elements introduced and so many pointless characters added to the film which in turn results in an uneven film.

The film really doesn't know what it wants to be but it's definitely not an action film. It wants to be this western, art house, drama, action and comedy film but none of it works. Comedy appears so regularly but none of it is funny.

Then we have the martial arts or the lack of it. There are brief snippets where we see people being taken out with like one or two strikes here and there but that’s it. There was one moment where it looked like it was going to turn into a decent fight scene with Chang acknowledging his opponent saying to him that he must be good at fighter, then they fight and it ends in like 20 seconds. Playing Asano the Japanese villain is veteran martial arts actor Kenya Sawada, whose fought Zhao before in Warriors of the Nation, in this film they do have a final showdown but it doesn’t last very long. The fight were snippets of quality to the fight but not enough to make it worth sitting through all the crap that came before.

The only thing I can commend the film for are the sets and wardrobe which are of a high quality. There's also moments of decent cinematography with some nice usage of shadows but some moments can be a tad over saturated or over colour corrected.

This is probably the worse of Vincent Zhao’s output and there is nothing worth watching here. Skip this film.

For more reviews:
https://asiancinemabox.wixsite.com/home/blog
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCem8JwdEFUzyDxYuM8sd8UA

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